Ryan began with a roundup of weekly digital news. The Goss Agency reviews and profiles digital media by channel for the latest changes, advancements, etc. weekly to stay on top the ever changing industry. A few of the week’s updates included Snap Inc.’s unveiling of their video recording glasses, “Spectacles,” and Google’s new local algorithm update called Possum.

Ryan went on to discuss digital marketing’s growth and increased role leading the target through the customer journey (attracting, converting, closing and delighting), optimizing all necessary components to a successful digital campaign (email, website, social, content, mobile, online ads, and search), and giving many insights into SEO. He mentioned how Google, more intuitive with algorithms, is sifting through the spam to deliver more relevant and fulfilling content to the searcher - making it crucial for companies and brands to have user-friendly websites and marketing with rich content.

Gabrielle presented the role of social media in the advertising industry - one of the most cost-effective mediums enabling companies to target specific, niche affinity groups.

Gabrielle discussed how imperative it is for companies to connect personably, have a consistent presence on social, and monitor their social platforms connecting and building relationships daily. Pointing out there are several social scheduling/listening tools and plugins that help facilitate/automate these important daily activities. She shared an example of a social media schedule calendar and some highly successful real-time, relevant posts for clients.

The presentation ended with many questions from the students - some asking specifics into SEO, Google Analytics and social while others wanted to hear the background stories of Ryan and Gabrielle and how they got where they are today.

For students they recommend identifying a company that is doing work they are impressed with and getting in the door as an intern and work and learn and work and learn.